SpaceX Floods Launch Site in First-of-its-kind Deluge Hardware Test! - Starship Weekly Update #73

welcome back and thanks for tuning in to episode 73 of lab Padres SpaceX and Starbase weekly updates as many of you all know we lost one of our longest standing moderators Michael McKenzie recently so we're dedicating this episode to his legacy with the team here at lab Padre now let's dig in this week's update begins with ship 28 which after having been placed onto this new ship thrust simulator and leaving the high Bay proceeded down Highway 4 to Massey's test site for the first round of cryogenic testing while s28 was still on the move to Massey's ship 30s nose cone was transported to the high Bay and prepared for stacking on top of the payload Bay section at the launch site the orbital launch Mount work platform was raised under booster 9 for the final engine skirt and infrastructure processing ahead of first round of booster testing as the sun was rising at the build site ship 30 began stacking in the high Bay with its nose cone being placed on top of the payload Bay section during the initial testing preparations booster 9 vented its methane tank for the first time on the orbital launch Mount ahead of the initial round of cryogenic testing near the under construction Mega Bay 2 the LR 11000 crawler crane was raised back up after reconfiguration which was performed to extend its boom to install the higher levels of the Bay after completing only a single cryogenic test booster 10 was on the Move Friday night and made its way back from Massey's test site to the star-based Rocket Garden for initial engine installation preparations with the reconfiguration of the LR 11000 crane completed the first section of the fifth level of Mega Bay 2 was transported from the Sanchez site to the ring yard for installation as the first booster 9 test day was approaching the orbital launch Mount work platform was lowered and the surrounding area near the table was cleared during a surprise weekend closure on Sunday cryogenics ran through the pipes leading to the orbital launch Mount and into booster 9 filling its tanks with liquid oxygen and liquid nitrogen it was the first test on the table since the inaugural launch of Starship over three months ago Paving the way towards another Starship liftoff from Starbase in the near future after holding the cryogenics for over two hours booster 9 began detanking following what appeared to be a Flawless cryogenic test the successful test marked a significant milestone in the testing campaign on Monday afternoon the Starship quick disconnect arm was extended for the first time since its recent installation having been modified to accommodate a higher Starship stack with hot staging equipment in a dramatic turn of events the Starship load spreader also known as the squid was attached to Starship sn15's nose cone ahead of scrapping later that afternoon at the build site star Factory Phase 2 construction was continuing with columns beams and roof sections being installed on the recently poured concrete pads after being up since booster 9's lift onto the orbital launch Mount the Chopsticks were lowered back to their stopping point at the base of the launch Tower on Tuesday evening a booster forward section was moved out of tent one this heavily reinforced booster forward section is labeled as a hot staging load head hinting at a probable use in a new staging test article as night dawned the second segment of the fifth level of Mega Bay 2 was relocated to the ring yard for installation on the structure on Wednesday morning the last missing piece of the orbital launch Mount cryogenic pipe shielding the doghouse was reinstalled at the base of the launch mount continuing the Swift pace of Starship production the forward Dome section of ship 30 was relocated into the high Bay for stacking as the day progressed the ship 24.2 test tank was finally stacked on top of a single ring inside the mid Bay completing its construction regrettably Wednesday concluded with the dismantling of Starship serial number 15 following more than 800 days since its famous test flight workers cut off its forward section and lowered it onto the ground using the lr750 crane following that the forward Dome section of sn15 was separated from the payload barrel and the nose cone marking another significant step in the scrapping process as the morning progressed the payload Bay of sn15 was separated from the nose cone restoring all main sections to their original stacking order later the AFT and forward flaps of sn15 were removed with the hope of preserving and repurposing them at Starbase memorials following the decapitation of sn15 the lr1750 crane was reattached to ship 26 For an upcoming lift off the Raptor engine's installation stand as booster 9 processing was continuing the orbital launch Mount work platform was lowered from under the booster to load more equipment onto the platform steady progress was made on the construction of the second Mega Bay as the first section of the fifth level was lifted into place atop the structure after a raptor transport stand was moved onto the orbital launch Mount work platform it was raised back up for a possible engine processing or removal with ship 27 having been scrapped ship 26 was lifted off the Raptor engine installation stand and lowered onto a transport stand taking the former spot of ship 27. with the relocation of ground fabrication building well underway its door was finally transported down the road to its new location at the Sanchez site as announced by SpaceX on Thursday the First full pressure test of water cooled steel plates under the orbital launch Mount took place on Friday notably this time all three manifolds were used in contrast to only one during the initial test a closer video shared by SpaceX revealed that the majority of the booster Raptor engines had corresponding water Outlets positioned beneath them switching over to Cape Canaveral the transporter erector at launch complex 39a was relocated to the horizontal integration facility to retrieve the Falcon heavy rocket in preparation for its upcoming launch at Port Canaveral Falcon 9 booster 1060 was positioned horizontally onto the transporter ready for its transfer to Hangar X for processing and refurbishment early the next morning spacex's support ship Shannon returned from base Systems Jacksonville Shipyard concluding possible maintenance and upgrades for future missions on Saturday evening Doug towed a short fall of Gravitas drone ship back to Port Canaveral following diver Hull inspections out at sea later that night tug's Signet Titan towed a short fall of Gravitas out to sea in support of the starlink g6-7 mission rounding out Saturday night SpaceX fairing recovery vessel dug headed out to see in support of the highly anticipated Falcon heavy mission echostar 24 Jupiter 3. on Sunday night another Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from SLC 40 placing another batch of starlink version 2 satellites into orbit on Wednesday morning a falcon heavy rocket was raised vertically on the transporter erector at historic launch complex 39a for its upcoming Mission which launched successfully on Friday night on Thursday tug Crosby Skipper returned to Port would just read the instructions drone ship and b1070-6 from the starlink g-6 mission launch as booster processing Advanced Falcon 9 booster 1076 was hoisted onto the dock in advance of its transportation to Hangar X where it will undergrow preparations for its upcoming Mission launch and there you have it another SpaceX and Starbase weekly update brought to you by lab Padre godspeed Michael was C on the flip side lab Padre out

Channel: LabPadre Space

Views: 32,227

Keywords: Boston Dynamics, spacex, starship, hopper, raptor, live, cam, Boca, Chica, Texas, launch, landing, test, mars, falcon, dragon, super, heavy, elon, musk, south, padre, island, beach, ocean, nitrogen, oxygen, tank, tesla, explosion, detonation, detonate, thermal, nasa, space, flight, nsf, nasaspaceflight

Id: ihBBaHpQ9u4

Length: 8min 49sec (529 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 30 2023